Veils in court like giving evidence ‘in a bag’ says Clarke

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The wearing of veils in court should be prohibited because a proper trial was
almost impossible when a witness was wearing “a kind of bag”, Kenneth Clarke
said yesterday.

The former Justice Secretary said that body language was crucial to a juror’s
assessment of whether a witness was telling the truth, and he could not see
how that was possible “when they are facing somebody who is veiled”.

Mr Clarke’s comments follow a ruling in September that a Muslim woman will be
allowed to stand trial while wearing a full-face veil. She must, however,
remove it while giving evidence.

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